Container for biological cultures



Oct. 6, 1970 J. v. RIERA 3,532,605

CONTAINER FOR BIOLOGICAL CULTURES Filed Feb. 19, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 M 'INVENTOR JOSE V/A/As @52A A 'TTORNE YS Oct. 6, 1970 J. v. RIERA CONTAINER FOR BIOLOGICAL CULTURES Filed Feb. 19, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 6 FIG. 8

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INVENTOR. Jose l/f/VAJ ,QA/52A BY m55@ l/dmv ATTO/Z NE YS United States Patent Office 3,532,605 Patented Oct. 6, 1970 3,532,605 CONTAINER FOR BIOLOGICAL CULTURES Jose Vinas Riera, Mandri 8, 5, 2a, Barcelona, Spain Filed Feb. 19, 1968, Ser. No. 706,317 Claims priority, application Spain, Mar. 2, 1967, 337,440 Int. Cl. C121) 1/00 U.S. Cl. 195-139 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Container for biological cultures having a flat side for receiving solid culture media, a mesh inside for holding the media against said flat side wall while the container is in its upright position and a means for immobilizing said mesh in that position.

The present invention refers to a container for biological cultures, especially for blood cultures, designed with a view t improving the formation and examination of bacterial cultures, having a Hat side for receiving the solid culture medium, which in the turned position of the container is covered by the liquid medium, a mesh at least partially embedded in said solid medium and means for immobilising said mesh so that in the upright position of the container the solid culture medium layer does not break away in block.

Normally these cultures are prepared in a liquid medium and then a delicate, potentially dangerous operation has to be performed to transfer it to the solid medium. Also a process is used in which the two media have been combined in one same ask or bottle. Nevertheless, the asks currently used for the double culture suffer from the following disadvantages: the surface area of the solid medium is relatively small; in order to avoid breakage or cracking during transport, the solid medium has to be made harder than is optimum for culture media; also it requires a thick layer of agar-agar, which makes observation diflicult when viewing the bacteria against the light.

The aforementioned disadvantages are overcome by the new type of container which is characterized by the fact that the liquid and solid media of the culture remain at the ready, the former on the bottom of the body of the container and the latter on a larger side wall of the same body, the solid culture medium being composed of a layer of agar-agar which is held against said wall by a mesh of inert material wholly or partially incorporated into the mass of the solid culture medium and giving said medium sufficient rigidity to prevent it from breaking away from the wall or from cracking.

One object of the invention is to make the wall which has to support the solid medium somewhat wider than the opposite wall to prevent the medium from breaking away in block.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the mesh is wider than the wall to which it is applied, so that, by being slightly curved and under tension, it ensures that the solid medium will remain adhered to the wall.

According to a further embodiment, the body of the container has some ridges on the anks of the wall opposite the one to which the solid medium is applied, said ridges having internal grooves into which penetrate and on which rest the ends of the mesh.

Another embodiment of the means for immobilising the agar-agar is based on the fact that the inert mesh, produced from thermoplastic material, is subjected to a prior thermosetting operation to give it such a shape that, once introduced into the body of the container, it tends to open out and press the agar-agar against the wall of the ask set aside for supporting the solid medi- According to a further embodiment, the edges which vertically ank the wall of the container to which the agar-agar is applied are arranged with a bevel to provide tangential support for the mesh in order to close the dead space that would be left between the solid medium and the curve o fthe mesh at the two corners.

According to another embodiment the side wall of the body of the container to which the agar-agar is applied has a transverse ridge at the top in order to complete the delimitation of area of spread of this material when it is introduced in a liquid state.

According to another embodiment, the wall on which the agar-agar is applied is made with its faces in perfect mutual parallelism in order to avoid optical aberrrations which render diicult direct, clear observation of the cultures on the agar-agar against the light.

Other aims and characteristics of the invention will become apparent in detailed forml in the following description, with reference to the illustrative drawings .which accompany it. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 represents a container according to the simplest version of the invention, seen in elevation.

FIG 2 is a view of the previous gure seen in cross section taken across the line II-IL FIG. 3 is a view of the container of the previous figure taken across the line III-III.

FIG. 4 is a view of the container of FIG. 1, seen in section across the line IV-IV.

FIGS. 5 to 8 are similar views to those of FIG. 2 and relate to containers equipped with elements for retaining the solid culture.

FIG. 9 is an elevation view across a smaller plane of a container with its neck in an offset position with reference to the centre line.

FIG. 10 is a view of the container of the previous figure according to a section across line X-X. f

FIG. 11 is a view of the container of FIG. 9 in section taken across a line XI-XI.

FIG. 12 is an elevation view across a smaller plane of a container similar to that of FIG. 9, equipped with additional elements for retaining the solid culture.

FIG. 13 is a view of the container of the previous figure taken across a line XIII-XIII.

FIG. 14 isa view of the container of FIG. 12 taken across along a line XIV-XIV.

FIG. 15 is a view of the container of FIG. 12 taken across a line XV-XV.

FIG. 16 shows a container similar to that of FIG. 12 giving a diagrammatical view of the limit positions for a rod introduced into said container in order to reach the surface of the culture in the solid medium.

A simple container 1 consists of a body with a rectangular base and vertical walls, two larger ones 2, 2', and two smaller ones 3, and a neck 4 suitable for the introduction of the media which compose the culture and to receive a stopper element (not shown).

The liquid medium 5 of the culture is to be found in the bottom of the container 1, whilst the solid medium 6, formed by a layer of agar-agar, adheres to one of the larger walls 2, after having been introduced in liquid state with the container being maintained in a horizontal position, with the larger wall 2 placed in the lower position and the larger wall 2 in the upper position, until the agar-agar has acquired a suicient degree of solidity for its stability.

In order to retain the layer of solid medium 6 ixedly against its relative wall 2, a mesh 7 of inert material,

such as plastic, metal or other material, is previously applied to the interior of the container 1, its lateral dimension being slightly greater than that of the wall 2 so that the side ends of the mesh press against walls 3 of the container. The mesh 7 penetrates within the mass of agaragar 6 for which it acts as a frame and its immobilisation is achieved by means of the pressure of the ends of mesh 7 on the side walls 3.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 5, the body of the container 1a has a trapezoidal section in which one of the larger walls 2a is wider than the other wall 2a, with the smaller walls 3 being divergent, thus preventing movement of the mesh 7a towards wall 2a.

According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a vertical projection 8 is provided on each smaller wall 3b of the container 1b just beside the larger wall 2b which bears the solid culture 6.

According to FIG. 7, the container 1 is provided with a mesh 9 placed by wall 2c which prolongs its width to form some flanks 9a which reach as far as the opposite larger wall 2'c, on which they rest.

As shown in FIG. 8, the container 1 is provided with a mesh 10 of thermoplastic material, larger than the one previously mentioned, which is previously given a curvilinear form so that it is retained inside the container by its tendency to expand against the walls.

The mesh 7, 9, 10, may be wholly or partially incorporated in the solid medium, including in this last variation the application of the mesh over the solid medium.

In order to facilitate access to the interior of the container 1d (FIGS. 9 to 11) it is advisable to adopt a lateral position for the neck 4d so that the layer of agar-agar 6 is situated on the larger wall 2d Opposed to the wall Zd nearest the neck 4d.

The container 1e (FIGS. 12 to l5), according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, has bevelled corners 11 on the vertical edges of the larger face 2e bearing the solid medium, whereby the retaining action of a mesh 9e is accentuated in view of the fact that it is applied tangentially at the edge and reduces the dead space, whereas vertical projections 8a are provided opposite the bevelled corners 11, adapted to receive the ends of the mesh 9e. Also according to the said preferred embodiment of FIGS. 12 to 15, in order to obtain a total delimitation of the solid culture medium 6 or layer of agar-agar poured into a container, an interior ridge 12 is transversally provided inside said container at the top edge of the corresponding larger face 2e which ridge serves to contain the above mentioned material when it enters the container in melted state.

Provision is made for the two surfaces of the larger Wall 2e, bearer of the solid medium 6, to be exactly parallel one with the other in order to avoid optical aberrations which could render ditiicult the observation of the culture against the light when trying to count colonies of microorganisms or determine their characteristics.

FIG. 16 shows a container 1f which indicates by dotted lines the limits of action of a rod 13 of platinum or other material, in order to be able to withdraw samples from the lsolid culture 6.

As may be seen from the above description, these containers solve the difiiculties expressed at the beginning and facilitate the preparation of cultures, especially haemocultures, by allowing the agar-agar to be spread out over a larger surface than in normal containers, since said surface comprises one whole larger wall of the container; this solid culture medium is stronger since it has a larger adhering surface per unit volume and because of the rigidity conferred to it by the mesh, thereby it is not so open to cracking since the inertia forces are less and since it is held in place in better conditions than in ordinary systems.

What is claimed is:

1. In a container for biological cultures havin-g a substantially polygonal cross-section and an upper neck, and having a stable upright position and a stable turned position substantially at right angles to said upright position, the improvement comprising a iiat wall adapted to receive a 'melted solid culture meduim in the turned position of the container, a mesh of inert material inside said container for holding said solid culture medium against said flat wall while the container is in its upright position, said mesh positioned with its greater surface facing said at 'wall and so as to be at least partially incorporated into the mass of the solid culture medium upon addition of said medium, and means for immobilising said mesh when the container is in its upright position.

2. A container for biological cultures, according to claim 1, in which the lateral dimension of the mesh is greater than that of the Wall adapted to receive the solid culture medium, the side ends of the mesh exercising pressure on the walls of the container, said side ends being the means for immobilising the mesh.

3. A container for biological cultures according to claim 1, in which the Wall adapted to receive the solid medium forms, two sharp angles with they walls adjacent thereto, said adjacent -walls bein-g the means for immobilising the mesh.

4. A container for biological cultures according to claim 1, in which the means for immobilising the mesh for retaining the solid culture medium layer comprises salient ridges provided in the body of the container along two parallel edges of the wall opposite the wall adapted to receive the solid medium, said ridges defining internal furrows adapted to receive the edges of the mesh.

5. A container for biological cultures according to claim 4, in which the said mesh is produced from thermoplastic material which has been subjected to a thermosetting operation to give it a form that causes it to open out and press against the side wall which receives the solid culture medium.

6. A container for biological cultures, according to claim 1, in which the vertical edges of the Wall of the body of the container to which the solid culture medium layer is applied, are bevelled so as to supply tangential support to the mesh in order to reduce or eliminatethe dead space that would be left in each corner between the medium and the mesh.

7. A container for biological cultures according to claim 1, in which the tiat Wall for receiving the solid culture medium layer has an upper transversal ridge which delimits the area of spread of said medium when it is introduced in liquid state in the turned position of the container.

8. A container for biological cultures according to claim 1, in which the iiat Wall for receiving the solid culture medium layer, has both its surfaces perfectly parallel one with the other in order to avoid optical aberrations which render diicult direct, clear observation of colonies of microorganisms against light.

9. A container for biological cultures according to claim 1, in which the container has an upper, assymmetrical neck with respect to the body, said neck being offset away from the larger wall which receives the solid culture medium layer in order to facilitate the penetration of a device suitable for reaching the whole of Ithe area of the aforementioned solid culture medium.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,992,974 7/1961 Belcove et al. 195-139 ALVIN E. TANENHOLTZ, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. XJR. 215-1 

